Elsa Johanna

Elsa Johanna is a project based on the life of my grandmother. She first emigrated from Finland to America in 1926 through Ellis Island, living out her life as a poor domestic worker in New York City. She left behind a five year diary, which documents historic events such as the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Finland's fall to Russia. More importantly, she was a TB survivor who mourned having to spend time in a hospital bed away from her only son, my father, a child born out of wedlock. The project was recently awarded the Mylio Grant